E-Trade Group Inc., moving to diversify in order to weather the shaky stock market, said Thursday it will buy LoansDirect.com, a closely held online mortgage broker. Although specific terms weren't disclosed, E-Trade said the transaction will involve an exchange of stock. Huntington Beach-based LoansDirect, a major provider of online mortgages, will become part of E-Trade's bank subsidiary.

Internet bank and brokerage E-Trade Group Inc. is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Assn. of Securities Dealers for inappropriate advertising. The second-largest online broker has agreed to submit its ads to the NASD's regulation division 10 days before first being used, the company said in a filing earlier this month. The NASD can force E-Trade to suspend all advertising if the Menlo Park, Calif.

Robert Tokarchek was out shopping for a washing machine hose when he joined the ranks of Internet whiz kids as an instant millionaire. Tokarchek, 61, a retired engineer who lives in Westlake Village, learned Tuesday that he won $1 million in a contest sponsored by Menlo Park-based online brokerage E-Trade by guessing that the Dow Jones industrial average would finish out the 1990s at 11,497.12. He hit it on the nose.

Who will make big news in the business world this year? Who will emerge from relative obscurity to become a major player? To start the new year, Times business reporters selected people from their beats who they believe will be among those to watch in 2000--in Southern California, across the country and around the world. Some are well known, having made big news in previous years. Others are not exactly household names but nevertheless are likely to make a major impact in their fields.

E-Trade Group Inc. on Wednesday reported a smaller-than-expected net loss for its fiscal fourth quarter while notching solid growth in customer accounts. The second-largest online brokerage firm lost $26.7 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a loss of $15.2 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier. However, that was better than the 13-cent loss expected by Wall Street analysts. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company added a net 310,000 accounts during the quarter ended Sept.

Wall Street's mad dash toward 24-hour stock trading for individual investors accelerated Tuesday as online brokerage E-Trade Group said it is joining with electronic trading network Instinet to roll out after-hours trading by next month. The No. 2 Internet broker said its 1.2 million customers will be able to trade weekdays from 1 p.m. Pacific time--just as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market close--until 3:30 p.m.

As the share price of Linux flag bearer Red Hat Inc. more than tripled on its first day of trading Wednesday, the success seemed to many observers to be the long-sought validation that the "free software" movement is emerging as a potent alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software. But a tragedy of errors by online brokerage E-Trade Group, which underwrote the offering, left many of the thousands of programmers who created Linux feeling left out of the parade.

Internet brokerage executive Frank Petrilli, who nine days ago said he would join E-Trade Group Inc., said he will instead return to TD Waterhouse Group Inc. Petrilli, 48, told Reuters: "A confluence of things on a personal level and a family level caused me to rethink my decision before officially starting at E-Trade. This has nothing to do with the E-Trade organization or the people at all."

E-Trade Group Inc. said it will acquire TIR Holdings Ltd. of Ireland for $122 million in stock as it builds a global trading network for its international clients. TIR, which has annual revenue of $100 million and employs 140 people, executes trades for institutions in more than 35 countries. Palo Alto-based E-Trade, the second-largest Internet broker, said the purchase of TIR would add to earnings and should close in the next six to 12 months.